The victim of a violent assault, caught on camera yesterday, has told a court that he hadn't expected to be assaulted by a black man because he, himself, was black.

This emerged as Omar Isse Mohammed, a 24 year-old Somali national, was charged with theft, aggravated by violence, slight bodily harm and public drunkenness over the attack, mobile phone footage of which quickly went viral after being picked up by news websites.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol told magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras how the police in St. Julians had received a report of a fight in Triq San Gorg, Paceville.

Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, legal aid, said the accused remembered nothing of the fight and so a not guilty plea was being entered.

Inspector Matthew Spagnol said that up till 830pm last night, the accused was still unable to walk, such was his level of intoxication.

The aggressor's Nigerian victim took the witness stand today as he will be leaving Malta in the coming days.

"Yesterday I was in Paceville and this guy asked for a lighter," he said, pointing to the accused. "He was black like me so he was like a brother to me. It was around 4:30am. There were around 5 of them. When I reached in my pocket, his friend took my phone out of my pocket. When I tried to take it back, he [the accused] punched me in the eye." The victim, who said he had withdrawn a €100 note from an ATM and was holding it in his hand to buy a pizza, said that Mohammed had taken the €100 from his hand and given it to the man who took the phone.

He was not sure who hit him in the head, however.
"I fell down and I don't remember what happened. I woke up in hospital."

He said he hadn't thought they would be violent. "Because they're black like me, so I free my mind for them," he said.
He signed himself out of hospital yesterday at 5pm. The man had suffered injuries to his eye, the back of his head and left elbow. His neck was so sore that he was unable to turn head yesterday, he added, but the pain had eased since then.

The witness said he had gone out alone to the beach in Paceville after a party and had slept there.

"It was definitely him, I can swear on this bible."

Although the man pleaded not guilty, the defence did not request bail at this stage.